The Longest Time
by EvilExEight
Summary: There was no easy explanation as to how Kevin Ryan had ended up where he was. Sprawled out naked on a bed; no, not just any bed, her bed, with a slight hangover. ON HOLD UNTIL 'COLD, COLD HEART' IS FINISHED.
1. Chapter 1: The Longest Time

There was no easy explanation as to how Kevin Ryan had ended up where he was. Sprawled out naked on a bed; no, not just any bed, her bed, with a slight hangover. Even now, he could clearly remember it, but he still couldn't explain it. He had just broken up with Jenny so the guys (and Beckett) took him to a bar to dull the pain of his tortured soul. They never expected him to drink them under the table, he was usually such a lightweight, but somehow he managed it.

They were long gone by the time _she_ showed up, beautiful as ever. The kind of girl you could never get anything done while she was around. Even though he knew it was almost definitely a bad idea, he still had a drink with her anyway; which led to another, and another, and another.

Which of course led to them stumbling, kissing and groping through the hallway of her apartment building. There was something odd about how passionately they tore each others clothes off, almost as if they had been wanting to do that for years. Strangely enough, no matter how blurred his recollection of their journey to the apartment was, he could clearly remember every moment of the actual sex. From the fact that even through the sweat and vodka, he could still smell that conditioner she used to the way her voice faltered when she orgasmed to the fact that he definitely didn't leave her breasts alone for the entire time; he could remember every singe detail of it. Which wasn't exactly a bad thing. Especially that thing she did with her tongue and his- no, he couldn't think about the thing she did with her tongue and- dammit, he did it again. To be fair, it was pretty incredible.

Regardless, he had to think about what happened next. Would they forget it ever happened? Or would do it again? I mean, he really, really wanted to do it again; but, would she want to? How would he explain it to Javi? Or Beckett? Or Castle? Oh, god. How the hell was he going to explain to Castle that he had- suddenly none of that mattered, because she walked in the room.

There was something about the way she just awkwardly stood there in the doorway wearing nothing but his shirt, holding two cups of steaming coffee with her fiery, red, unkempt hair framing her pale face that suddenly, as well as temporarily depraving him of his vocabulary, stopped any of that from mattering a damn. He was vaguely aware of how Castle would react when he found out that he had slept with his daughter but, right now, he wanted to have coffee with Alexis.

'Well, this is gonna hurt like a mother fucker'

It wasn't what he intended to say, but it was pretty accurate.


	2. Chapter 2: You & Me

-In The Not Too Distant Future-

Everything was slightly dim and far away. His knee hurt. Which he really didn't anticipate. He was expecting to be too distracted by her answer to be worrying about something as mundane as the knee he injured in the 5th grade. He couldn't have been kneeling for longer than a few seconds but, it seemed like a lot longer. He was slightly amazed by how quickly his mind was working; running through all of the possible outcomes. He must have been too focused on that because it took him a while to register what she was saying.

Yes. She was saying yes.

-Back To The Present-

'What?'

'No- I was thinking out loud. Is- are you wearing my shirt?'

'Oh, yeah. It was kinda cold' She brought the coffee over to the bed; said shirt riding up her back as she set it down on the bedside table.

'Just my shirt?' He didn't seem to have gotten that vocabulary back.

'It wasn't that cold'

'I...uh, It doesn't look...warm', now he seemed to have a problem with the whole eye contact thing.'

Hmmm? Oh!'She realised what he meant and crossed her arms across her chest, breaking Kevin's attempt at eye contact.

'Sorry, I...um' Now his line of sight was broken, he looked up into her eyes. Good God, those eyes. He was reminded of that 'Guns N' Roses' song.

She's got eyes of the bluest skies

As if they thought of rain

I'd hate to look into those eyes

And see an ounce of pain

Somehow he knew that if he ever saw pain in those eyes, he'd feel it as much as she did.

'I'm a little out of my depth here'

'I guess it doesn't really matter any more. I mean, you saw everything last night'

'Yeah, I suppose we need to talk about that' He said hesitantly sitting up.

'W-was it not...good?'

'No. No no no, it was really very good. More than good, it was incredible'.

'But...'

'But, I'm over ten years older than you. And you're the daughter of one of my best friends. And, this time yesterday, I was engaged. It's just- I th- We probably shouldn't do that again'

Seven hot minutes later, the two lay next to each other; half panting, half laughing. Also, Alexis wasn't wearing Ryan's shirt any more...or anything for that matter.

'To be fair' Ryan managed to get out between laugh-pants 'I said "Shouldn't", not "Wouldn't"'

Alexis sat up. Her face had been redder than her hair for the last three minutes. 'I suppose I also "Shouldn't" get the whipped cream out of the fridge'

Ryan sat up with her, leaning in slightly. 'Probably not, but I don't think I'd be able to stop you'

Alexis leaned closer. 'There isn't really anything you can do'

Now, as Ryan leaned in further, he was close enough for them to feel each other's breath; but still far enough to still be a tease.

'I'm completely powerless'

'How the hell are you not kissing me right now?'

Who was he to argue? He closed the gap between them, locking lips with just enough force. She already loved that about him. He wasn't afraid she would break if he pushed her. He knew that she was a big girl now.

They were so lost in the moment it took a while for either of them to notice the ringing phone.

They finally came up for air.

'That's work, I...gotta go' he sounded as though he was being sent to the executioner's chair.

Somehow, he managed to pull himself away from the naked redhead on the bed in front of him and, after making sure he didn't sound like he had been pulled away from a naked redhead, answered the phone. He spoke as he dressed.

'Ryan. Mm-hm. Yeah. Okay, I can be there in ten' He hung up.

'Anything exciting?'

'Nah. Just your run-of-the-mill homicide down on-' He turned around as he buttoned his shirt and stopped. 'Oh, you're not making this easy for me are you?'

Alexis was laying spread out on her bed, making no effort to cover anything up. In fact, with her legs raised and slightly open resting at the foot of the bed, she seemed to be making a concious effort to show everything.

'I'm not sure I know what you mean' She said as she stood up...slowly. 'I'm just going to take a shower' She walked towards the bathroom. Again, very slowly.

Kevin Ryan looked from the front door to the bathroom door. Then back again. He made up his mind.

When he arrived at the crime scene thirty five minutes later; Castle, Beckett and Esposito were already there.

He decided to just act normally. 'Hey Javi. So, what have we got?'

'Just your basic gas station hold up gone wrong'

'So, we got the guy?'

'Uh...yeah. Did something happen after we left you last night?'

'I, u- Why do you ask?'

'You seem a little off. What, you get lucky or something?'

Kevin couldn't help but smile. 'Yeah, you could say that. I got really lucky'.

Whenever Javi asked him what he meant throughout the day, Ryan would just smirk to himself as if it were some kind of private joke.


	3. Chapter 3: Stage One

NOTE:

Two things I probably should have mentioned. One, the start of Ryan and Alexis' "Relationship" takes place around the start of Season 4. Therefore anything that takes place after that, so the entire story, is slightly AU. Secondly, Alexis is around three years older than she is in the show, so she's already moved out, she has her own place and their "Relationship" is totally legal. Also, all of the stuff with Alexis, Ashley and Stanford happened at the end of Season 3. Okay, you're all caught up.

END OF NOTE.

It's just like Robin Scherbatsky says, there are several stages in the process of saying 'I Love You'

First, there's the moment when you think it.

Circa 'Kick the Ballistics'

For Ryan, it was a remarkably simple moment. A murder had been committed using his old service weapon. The same one that had been stolen by the serial killer, Jerry Tyson. And, despite the best efforts of the NYPD, they were no closer to catching him. He went home a little depressed that night, angry at himself and Tyson. All it took to perk him up was to come in the door and find Alexis stood in the kitchen in an AC/DC shirt and pyjama bottoms, dishing macaroni and cheese into bowls. When she saw him she immediately turned off the stove and almost ran up to him. 'I uh, I know that today's been rough for you so we don't have to talk about it, I made macaroni and cheese and I went out and bought...' she left Ryan holding the food and walked towards the TV, picking something up from beside it '...Ferris Bueller. I know its one of your favourites and...what?'. He only just realised that he had been staring. 'Nothing, I'm-it's perfect'. That is exactly how they spent the evening. Watching 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', eating Macaroni and Cheese and falling asleep in each other's arms. It was around the time that Alexis mouthed along to the entirety of 'Twist and Shout' that Ryan thought to himself; 'I think I love this girl.

Circa 'Cops & Robbers'

Alexis had been trying to break up with Ashley. She almost managed it as well. But, that was before she got the call. Before she found out that the closest family she had was currently hostages. The rest of the day passed in a blur, as if she was operating in autopilot. Even breaking up with Ashley over the phone was no where near as daunting as she had thought. In fact, the only clear moments were when she was back at her Dad's place; curled up on the couch with her Dad and Grandmother. She stayed there for a few days, with at least one of them within her line of sight at all times. It took her almost a week for her to get back to her own apartment, which is where she found Ryan. She had spent a good deal of the last week trying to figure out what she was going to say to him. I mean, he was probably going to be angry with her for not calling. He was definitely going to have something to say to her. But, he didn't. As soon as she walked in the door, he just rushed towards her and put his arms around her. Not saying a word, he just held her. He held her for the rest of the evening. Even as they awkwardly made their way to her bedroom, he didn't let go and she didn't want him to. They didn't even get undressed and by the time they woke up the next morning, still in yesterday's clothes, Alexis thought she loved him too.

NEXT: The moment where you think you know it.


	4. Chapter 4: How Esposito Finds Out

The subject of Ryan's secret girlfriend had become something of a running joke. Javi made fun of him. Beckett made fun of him. Castle made fun of him, which always made him feel very smug and just a little guilty. Hell, even Gates made fun of him for it. They all relentlessly pressed him for the slightest hint as to who she was. To which he always replied that it was between him, the girl in question and the woman who lived in the apartment across the street from Alexis' place. Okay, he left the last part out. The point is, they all wanted to know and Ryan wasn't giving them anything. It probably would've stayed that way if things hadn't, as things often do, gone wrong. The day Esposito found out didn't start well either.

They had been working for almost two days straight on this mob case that was going nowhere except dead ends. Eventually, they decided to call it quits and go home for the night. Ryan left first and, after saying goodbye to the rest of the guys, he texted Alexis to let her know he was on his way to his place. He didn't really expect much from her that night. A text back? Maybe even a phone call? He certainly didn't expect to come home to find that Alexis had let herself into his place, embraced their 'clothing-optional' rule and found possibly the best use for whipped cream in the history of pressurised dairy products.

But, regardless of what he expected, he let himself into his place and made his way to the bedroom with the express plans of falling asleep fully clothed and saw her. She was spread naked on his bed and, having already applied the bottom half of her whipped cream bikini, was hastily putting the finishing touches on her breasts. She quickly noticed he was there and, after the obligatory slack-jawed staring and a quick muttering of "work, work, work,", he made his way over to her, slowly beginning to discard his own clothing in the process. Starting between her legs, he slowly began to lick away as much of the cream as he could without hitting any of her any sweet spots, refusing to give her the release she craved. Eventually, at least it felt that way to Alexis, he slipped his tongue between her folds and while the taste of what Kevin Ryan was experiencing was impossible to put into words, his internal monologue told him to put 'Alexis & Cream' flavoured ice cream on Kickstarter. Alexis signalled Ryan to move on by tapping him on the forehead with the nozzle of the cream and squirting a trail for him to follow, which he did. From her navel to the underside of her ribcage to the partially melted cream on her breasts, he teased her the entire time. Making sure to scoop up the cream and only lightly touch the skin underneath. Circling his tongue a hairs breadth from her nipple, he continued upwards, tracing the edge of her collarbone and neck until finally he came to her mouth and, through shared mouthfuls of whipped cream; kissed her deeply. As the two were about to come up for air, he fumbled with the buttons on his pants as he prepared to enter her when-

'Yo! Ryan, we caught a break.'

'What!?' Ryan was trying to both button his pants back up and figure out what the hell Esposito was doing in his apartment.

'Yeah, it's Christine. She finally flipped on Murphy. She's willing to testify. Esposito was still in the other room. If he could just get these shirt buttons done up...

'That's gr...You couldn't have called?' Ryan managed to regain his composure and quickly ran his fingers through his hair to make sure it didn't look too wild before leaving his bedroom to meet Espo in the living room.

'You weren't picking up and I- whoa!' As soon as he saw Ryan he stopped in his tracks.

'What are you-' Ryan reached his fingers to his cheek as if to scratch it and halted when he realised that he still had whipped cream spread all over his face. After a moment of silence that consisted of Ryan with a hand to his face and a smug yet slightly proud Esposito.

'Were you just doing what I think you were just doing?'

'What? No, I was just-

'What? You were just having a bedtime snack? Espo asked as he tried to walk towards the hallway that connected the living room with Ryan's bedroom.

Ryan quickly moved to block him 'No, I just- I, uh...'

'I didn't think so' Espo tried to push past him 'So, is that your girl in there? You two gettin a little quality time?'

'C'mon, man' Ryan pushed back against Esposito 'Now's not the time. You said we caught a break'

'Actually' came Alexis' voice from behind him and she walked out of his bedroom and into the hallway behind him, thankfully wearing clothes. 'I suppose now is as good a time as any. Hey, Esposito.'

Esposito looked about as shocked as he would have if Lanie, Captain Gates or Scarlett Johansson had walked out of Kevin's bedroom. He looked from Ryan, to Alexis and back to Ryan. After mulling over what to say and just how much swearing was appropriate, he decided on; 'Oh, Castle is gonna fucking kill you'

And he probably was.


	5. Chapter 5: Stage Two

Second, there's the moment when you think you know it.

For both Ryan and Alexis, it was at his bachelor party. Well, his fake bachelor party. Basically, it turns out that Castle and Esposito had planned a surprise bachelor part when he was still engaged to Jenny. He also forgot to cancel it so, when an Atlantic City casino owner was murdered and the three had to do some undercover work, Castle saw it as an opportunity to have the party anyway. After they had solved the murder, of course. So for the next hour, Ryan had to fight off strippers, showgirls and shots. It wasn't so much as he didn't want to, it was more that he couldn't. He felt physically ill whenever a lap dance started and eventually, he managed to escape the hotel room where all of this was taking place and call Alexis. It wasn't a deep, emotional conversation or anything. No, it was one of those mushy, relationship-ey talks where nothing important was talked about and if you asked either of them today what it was they talked about, they couldn't tell you. Yet, they continued to talk through to the early hours of the morning and it was around the time that each of them realised they had been talking all night regardless of the fact that she had an interview in a few hours, they both though that they knew they loved each other.

* * *

><p>Sorry it's been so long, I've had writers block on this chapter for so damn long and I didn't want to move on until I had it done. Also, sorry it's so damn short. However, I'm just starting on the next chapter and, to compensate, it's a two-for-one deal. The moment when you know you know it and how Gates finds out. That should be up soon. Thanks for your patience. You guys are awesome!<p> 


	6. Chapter 6: Lanie & Stage Three

If Ryan was being honest, Alexis working at the precinct was pure torture. Well, she was working in the morgue, but it's still part of the precinct.

There was just something about the way Alexis rocked the medical scrubs and no make up look that made Ryan want evacuate the precinct just so she wouldn't have to be quiet. You wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult and, honestly, neither did they. It didn't take too long for them to be proven long. In the end, all it took was for Alexis to come up for a couple of files and Ryan had a hard time standing straight for about half an hour. Of course, it didn't help that Esposito would shoot the two of them dirty looks any time they were within twenty feet of each other. No matter what they did, for some reason they seemed to be more attracted to each other at work. Over the course of about a week and a half, they had tried a variety of different things and yet, they were almost constantly horny at work. The next logical step was obviously to start doing it at work. Which didn't end well either.

It only started because Ryan had been asked to pop down to the morgue and get some test results off Lanie. And, because he though that Alexis had gone home, he didn't complain or make up some excuse. Of course, as luck would have it, he seemed to time walking past the changing rooms at the very moment it was still partially open and see his girlfriend half naked. It really shouldn't have been enough to stop him in his tracks but when you're at home and you spend more time having sex than you do not having sex, stopping for a couple of hours so you can work is a lot harder than you think. And when you catch your significant other in a state of undress, it's even harder. So when Ryan stopped, he couldn't help but leer through the crack in the door like some kind of peeking tom.

So he watched intently as the now only in her underwear Alexis began to dress herself. Starting with the pair of stockings he had asked her specifically to wear this morning, she began to slowly put them on in a teasing, almost seductive way as if she knew that he was-

'I know this is some kind of male fantasy but there's no one in here with me and I wouldn't make out with them anyway'

Ryan, accepting of his grim fate, slowly entered the room. Mainly because he couldn't physically move any faster. 'I wouldn't dream of asking'

Now that she had successfully turned him on, Alexis began dressing in a normal manner.

'Especially now that I have something far better all to myself' He crossed the room to her, linking his arms around her and slipping his hand down the front of the skirt she had literally just put on. She turned around and attempted to, unsuccessfully, stifle a laugh.

'Yeah right. Like you would turn down a threesome' She began to press her waist against his with unbearable pressure.

'Hey, if I get you instead, I'd turn down a whole harem' He managed to get the sentence out rather well considering he was only two thin pieces of fabric away from being inside of her.

'Aw, that's actually kind of sweet' She was fully aware of how much strain he was under.

'Of course if this skirt and these pants stay on for much longer, all bets are off' What he was experiencing was actually close to physical pain at this point.

'Oh, eat me'

'Happy to' The words came out in a far more relieved way than he would have liked. However, that still didn't stop him from moving the two of them over to the bench that ran along one wall, sitting Alexis down on it and slowly making his way down to the hem of her skirt. Seeing as she as teased him a little, he decided to return the favour my making sure he took as long as possible to push her skirt up her legs. Now, with said skirt bunched up around her hips and her slender legs hooked over his shoulders; he, still moving as slowly as possible, pushed her cotton panties aside and, still mercilessly slowly, slipped his tongue inside her. To say she tasted more heavenly that anything, or anyone, else he had ever tasted would be an injustice and an understatement. Even though he hadn't been much of a foreplay guy in the past, Ryan would've been happy to eat out Alexis for hours. He probably would have too. If the two weren't, to be frank, rudely interrupted a female voice.

'Kevin Ryan!?'

As if denying it for long enough would make it so, Ryan took an age to withdraw, slowly look up at his girlfriend and plead; 'Please tell me you do a very good impression of Lanie'

When she shook her head, confirming what Ryan already knew, he quickly did his best to cover and retain Alexis' dignity. Well, as much dignity as you can have when you're found being eaten out by your secret boyfriend in the public changing room of the place you work. So, in reality, no all that much.

They spent the next forty five minutes being lectured by Lanie about a number of things. Inter-office relationships, Health and Safety, common decency but they didn't care. Instead of actually listening, they spent the entire time with their hands on each other's ass. It was at some point during Lanie's 'age difference' portion of her lecture that the two of them turned to one another with the express desire to say something. They loved each other and they knew it. Yet, for some reason, neither of them could bring themselves to say it.


End file.
